Top 10 Skiing Destinations in France | 2022/23
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
- Top 10 best ski resorts in France, ranked - 2022/23 season. Skiing in France is something special and extraordinary. No one really does ski areas like the French. Here you'll find superb skiing for all skill levels and in this video, we're counting down the top 10 skiing destinations in France.
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Timestamps and helpful links:
00:00 Intro
00:40 Les Deux Alpes - www.booking.com/city/fr/les-d...
01:30 Chamonix - www.booking.com/city/fr/chamo...
02:32 Tignes - www.booking.com/city/fr/tigne...
03:28 Alpe d'Huez - www.booking.com/city/fr/l-alp...
04:24 Avoriaz - www.booking.com/city/fr/avori...
05:18 Val Thorens - www.booking.com/city/fr/val-t...
06:18 La Plagne - www.booking.com/city/fr/la-pl...
07:05 Méribel - www.booking.com/city/fr/merib...
08:00 Courchevel - www.booking.com/city/fr/courc...
09:03 Val d'Isére - www.booking.com/city/fr/val-d...
Some of the pronunciations are bizarre! Happy to help. 😉
My husband just ski at Vallée Blanche in Chamonix last month, it was very challenging for us, we also were in Val D’Isere, La Rosière and Sainte Foy. We had so much fun skiing off piste with fresh snow powder for week. We definitely going back next year
I had to stop watching. Couldn’t bare the poor pronunciation. I drew the line at E-space Killy.
Sorry about that. Need to practice my French for sure!
@@mountain_sight google translate is right there! this video was well put together but a little more time is all that would have been needed to get the pronunciation right
@@mountain_sight never mind those grumpy guys. it is in English hence will be mostly viewed by english speaking people who will understand the places names bettter than if they were said by a French native. great video by the way.
😂Agree. I shouldn't be too difficult to find the right pronunciation online.
I think the voice over was computer generated.
I skied in most the resorts presented and I agree that Val d'Isère and Tignes are probably the best in France while not the largest ski area. You should have also mentioned that La Plagne is the most visited ski resort in the world which let you imagine the amount of people skiing there at the peak of the season. To reach the Tarentaise Valley where most of the ski resorts you mentioned are located (to the exception of Alpe d'Huez, Avoriaz Les Deux Alpes and Chamonix), the best is to use the train (high speed or not) and connect with transfer bus as the national road serving the Tarentaise Valley can be an absolute nightmare on Friday and Sunday evening during winter
American, packed my board and did Val Thoren and Val d'isère March 2022 and loved them both! Val Thoren is modern and UP HILL if you stay at the lower part as I did. Val D is a CHARMING old time ski resort. Part of the memory for me are the trains and buses you take to get to both.
I made most of them, and have a preference for Alpes d'Huez. More southern than the other ones, it is more sunny and less overcrowded. The 3,300 summit guarantees snow during the whole season for confirmed skiers.
thumbs up for the list ...visited all resorts
Wow that’s impressive! Which one did you like the most?
@@mountain_sight hard choice ... my heart goes to Tignes&Val d isere (espace killy )
Good choice! They are something special!
I've been in all resorts. The best snow conditions I've ever had were at Val Thorens. I've a soft spot for Avoriaz as I've had great weekly vacations there as a kid.
But I'll rank Méribel number one because it's at the center of the 3 Vallées and you can ski in either Courchevel or Val Thorens daily if you want. It's clearly the most convenient spot if you're a confirmed skier.
I tend to ski in les menuires and I think it deserves a spot on this list
Les menuires is the best, 3 Vallées access is the key, best resort in Europe by far
I haven't been to Alpe d'Huez or Avoriaz but I pretty much agree to this ranking. Tignes+Val d'Isère (Espace Killy) is a bit greater than the 3 valleys (Courchevel/Meribel/Les Ménuires/Val Thorens) to my opinion BUT the are always periods/conditions to rethink one of those. I came twice to Val Thorens (this year and 10 years ago) I agree, it was desapointing. Yes you're not afraid about snowfalls : skiing IS guaranteed. But way too crouded (avoid french holidays in February anywhere you plan to go). When the snow is good, consider skiing towards Orelle, south oriented pistes on the other side, the Maurienne valley. Suberb views on the south alps, the Ecrins massif on the west. Each resorts have their hidden gems, try to find these spots and be there right on time...
That’s a good advice, thank you!
I'm going to Les 2 Alpes on 6 January, more apprehensive then excited, as I've not tried skiing for 35 years.
good list and probably agree with most. Maybe Les Arc over La Plagne. Val D'Isere probs the pick tho Courcheval 1850 could give it a nudge. you missed a good less known area called Grand Massif. 5 towns and 260kms of skiing very good. good snow. not to high tho. only 2500m. still high enough.
The French Pyrenees are very underrated - some great medium sized resorts there
i went skiing in valthorens in easter but what i noticed is that when i would ski into meribel the snow would be very slushy in the middle of the day.
Pretty accurate
Flaine is a great resort. Part of the grand massif which has loads of really good skiing for every level
Sounds nice. Thanks for your input!
Yes the whole Grand Massif is a bit if a hidden gem. 260kms of skiing, 5 resorts, all vey well interconnected. and very very pretty resort ( except Flaine), a mix of lovely alpine views, some beautiful tree lined skiing and some great skiing above the treeline in Flaine. altho Flaine Bauhaus architecture is a plain ugly eye sore, its got great skiing and very good snowfalls for the resort overall. the Vers piste bowl is excellent, plus a 5km green run for beginners is an asset. and a lovely 8km blue run from top of Flaine down to the Sixt in the valley below. lots of good to write on Grand Massif.
I’ve made all of them (just not Alpe d’huez), pretty ok with your top 10 ; just not Val d’Iser as n°1 for it station 🫤, as better place for La Plagne that has for me an underestimated skiing parc (lot of very long and large pists very pleasant for snowboarding) even if the station isn’t great. In contrary to Meribel that has a beautifful station, but first pists before higher « 3vallées » pists arn’t good.
Btw n°1 for me is Courchevel.
Megeve should be in this top 10 for it wonderfull city (or maybe you consider essentially skiing) and around, especially that its is interesting all the year long for leaving (VS Val thorens, Courchevel…).
And among my favorite, two mid/small stations : Les Arcs 1800 (not 1600 nor 2000!) and Vars-les-Claux (more south, different…)
As a native from the Tarentaise valley, I'm not sure why all the ski resorts of this valley are in the top 10 except Les Arcs. If you look at the quality of the ski slopes and the equipment, it is equally as good as most, better than other.
agree. think LEs Arc should be in there instead of La Plagne.
I only have skied at Megeve 😊
Did you like it?
Yeah it’s always been Great
Weird and I assume computer generated voice over - note at 7.53 the text says "you can easily explore val thorens OG courcheval' - which is spoken verbatim.
The Arcs area shoud be in the top ten, Val d'isère and Tignes are in the same area called "Espace Killy"
I'm watching this whall im in val thoren
How much are lift tickets?
I went to les Deux Alpes last month, i agree that the slopes are on the easier side, however the snow situation was terrible with little too no snow in the village, overall not the best ski trip i went on!
That has nothing to do with the ski area itself tho
@@JL-dp1wj I know, it is a beautiful area, very busy! But I probably wouldn’t go again because there weren’t many slopes on the harder side, put its a perfect place for beginners :)
@@uhiikd3208 unfortunately with les deux Alps the high glacier where the good snow is where all the beginner runs are. this season was a complete mix of rain then snow, then rain then snow. its still doing it. more snow this week after some rain. so no snow in villages low down. some weeks of 16C days crazy. then some dumps of snow. been watching it all season. been ok up top mostly where that rain made some snow. but in Les 2 Apls, not much use as per beginner runs up top, and lower down would have suffered the rain.
I have been to all of the resorts, personally I think Val Thorens is the best and it has been voted best ski station several times. I have been to VT every year for 35 + years, sometimes twice in a season. Setam invest heavily in the lift system so queuing is never a problem outside Christmas, Easter and the half term break. The three valleys IS the biggest ski area in the World and as the highest ski station in Europe good snow is virtually guaranteed. The centre can be noisy at night but the Stade area is quiet, bottom of the town on Rue du Soleil also. Both have ski in ski out possibilities. For better skiers Les Balcons at the top of the town is good but more challenging for ski in ski out.
But please, learn how to pronounce French place names, you sound like my GPS!
its an auto robot doing the voice over. its doesnt know french obviously
Is your mis-pronunciation of the resort names deliberate? (made me smile though). But Chamonix is the one for me.
this was annoying me too lol
@@jamieteare5605 🙈even "apres ski"
guys its an auto word bot !@ cant do English and French at the same time
The pictures of chamonix are from ischgl lol
You forgot the biggest gem of Trois Vallées….. Orelle. The back side of Val Thorens. When it snows there is no better place for side country, off piste with lifts. Not crowded.
yes but you wouldn't want to stay in Orelle. it looks like a western ghost town from the USA back in the 1700's with tumbleweeds!! and low and dark in the maurienne valley
i was in “les 3 valleys” at 2018-2019. i have been skiing for 13 years. and i really like this resort. i want to go back there, but in my country really bad political situation. im so sad(
Been to a lot of these resorts most of Italy and some Austria. Fave ski area is Tignes has wide easier ski runs I can do with beginners Follett Douce and live music in town. Favourite town in Chamonix but not the easiest to ski for learners. France is expensive now over 10 euros a beer. Swore I’d stick to Austria.
Went to Val Thorens food and service terrible. Nightlight not the best.
People who have skied these resorts. 1. Best place for powder skiing. 2. Best place to avoid crowds. We live in a ski resort town in Montana and will be visiting the alps next year. All of the family are expert skiers. Any help would be great. I have ZERO desire to wait in line all day. Also, will be traveling by train from Paris. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Best
I would say that the best one to avoid queues, to do powder skiing and that has many skiable kilometers is Megeve, also the town seems magical and has a lot of history, although it is a bit expensive, but I recommend it a lot, I went there 2 months ago and there wasn't queues since it is not very well known
@@eurofan0136 Thanks pal.I appreciate it.
@@eurofan0136 go to the other side over at St Gervais. part of the same network, just as good skiing. just one lift and your up at top above Megeve, without the expense.
@@johnsmith1706 if your all experts, Chamonix is a great place for off piste. Vallee blanche is famous for off piste and good powder. Argentierre is excellent. but further south look for La Grave. only 1 lift i think. its EXPERT skiers only allowed. All off piste. excellent conditions. and only true experts ski there. its high and long runs and really an expert only area. pretty gnarly ! not sure on accommodation tho. close by is Serre Cheveliar, excellent connected resort & great variety, north facing too, to the east. and Alpe Du Heuz/Les 2 Alps to the west if you need accom. Val D'Isere has some great powder and off piste, so too Val Thorens. as both are very high, above 3300m ! good luck choosing. do your research. its all online.
you could also consider Verbier in Switzerland. expensive, but excellent off piste and expert skiing. good lift infrastructure and great off piste powder when it snows. be warned tho, USA appears to get much much more snow annually. sometimes it doesn't snow for many weeks in alps. so dont expect powder unless a fall has come just before you arrive.
I agree terrible pronunciation one of my favorite resorts is Serre Chevalier very underrated place
All, bar CHX and Avz, are Savoie based and what’s not mentioned in any of the commentary is the frankly awful transfer from Geneva or Lyon to get to them. Friday night or Sat morning can be 5hrs+ of queues and single lane traffic, winding up mountain roads stuck behind convoys of coaches. And if the road to Val or Tignes has a big dump, it’s often closed at the bottom and you’re forced to wait in Bourg SM for hours, sometimes overnight.
As for CHX, where I lived for 5 years, cold, dark, miserable and full of ar**holes. Oh, and constant pollution (second most polluted area in France after Paris), a dual carriageway with hundreds of lorries driving through the heart of what is a stunning (geographically speaking) valley, and the most fragmented and expensive skiing you could wish for, with useless public transport system and endless queues. And all those ar**holes I mentioned. People get blinkered by what it offers, but there is equally abundant and far less crowded off piste skiing and touring elsewhere.
Frankly the best resorts in France are the small, quiet French resorts which only the locals know, and if you’re coming by plane, those in the Haute Savoie, so you’re only an hour or so from GVA. Authentic, better value, quieter, less queuing, fewer ar**holes, amazing views, less cold, more sun, less pollution etc etc.
I moved out of CHX and now live in what I’ve described and am so happy I did. It never makes top-ten lists, which I couldn’t be happier about. But for all those who live here, or have visited in summer or winter, it is firmly number 1. A best kept secret.
yeah agree wth CHX. im looking for a French ski resort to buy a little unit and do a lot of retirement skiing. analysed most on this list and more. BUT..... Cham just doesn't make the cut. most of these top 10 do, altho the smaller ones offer better bang for buck. like Grand Massif. and many other smaller ones, even Portes Du Soleil. Cham has good town infrastructure, but its just too disconnected unlike like most of these others listed. have to bus everywhere. tho Argentierre is magnificent skiing. Cham is for the expert skiers who love the challenging off piste. guys like Glen Plake, the original 'Extreme' skier from the 1990's lives there and loves it. b/c of the incredible off piste.
@@jimbosaul3996 By chance Jimbo, I'm a real estate agent 🤣
Consider Le Fayet. It's in the commune of Saint Gervais Les Bains. Pound for pound still excellent value. No skiing direct from the town, but they're about to build a super lift direct to the Évasion ski domain.
The location offers easy access from everywhere. 5mins from the morotway, GVA is just an hour by shared transfer, and you can get TGV from Paris. You can catch the local train to any of the CHX Valley ski areas direct from the station. You can also get the tram to Les Houches. What's more, it's got a great park with climbing, a full climbing centre being built as we speak, and is a ten minute cycle to Passy Lake. A small selection of restaurants and bars, plus the new lift means you're just 10mins on foot to St Ger centre.
CHX, Argentiere, Les Contamines, Courmayeur all within easy drive (10-35 mins).
Best buy at the moment......🤘
@@leangrypoulet7523 Ah... thnx LE Poulet. interesting on Le Fayet. i know the St G area well. my good mate has a chalet in SG. we're going at end of this yr for a month or 2. love it and Megeve. pretty good skiing. also been looking closely at Les Carroz too. all good value. everything is so close in EU. my skiing here is 1800kms away from me lol. when you mentioned in another post you lived near SGLB, i only call it SG, so didn't get the reference. but your right about all the close resorts. also La Cluzas/Le Gettiaz and Val D'Arly resorts close by.
only issue for me is i want to be immersed in snow. even if i cant ski b/c of injury or old age, i want to be surrounded by snow in anything i buy. being a boy from the tropics and 35C summers, snow is a lovely novelty to me. so even St G is too low for me as it doesn't hold the snow in the village. La Fayet would be far worse. has to me 1000m minimum. but really higher is better. like Val D. higher up costs more ! 😞
seems to me a lift from La Fayet is NOT the priority for SGLB/Megeve. a bit of a waste. the most important oversight is a lift from Megeve/Mt D'Arbois/Rochebrune up over the range to La Contamines. a really bad oversight. apparently they want to do it but are fighting on who pays ? i can't see how a La Fayet lift gets precedence. must be a traffic reducing issue. they are doing the same at Magland for Les Carroz/Flaine. but it wont pass thru LEs Carroz station. again more stupidity.
Anyway tnx for the info. how can i get in touch with you . like to discuss more on the real estate side. what's your agency name?
@@jimbosaul3996 If snow is your thing, but you also want better value, try and look at the high altitude resorts that were built in the sixties (concrete towers command less money than renovated farmhouses), and that have a higher French visitor number than Brit/Foreign. Properties will generally be much cheaper. La Plagne is a great example. Or, if you like the area around Mont Blanc, look at Flaine. But any 60s resorts above 1500-2000m which have high Brit visitor numbers (Les Arcs, VT, Alpe d’Huez, Tignes, Avoriaz) or high altitude village resorts (Val d’Isere), will cost more than their mainly French or mainly tower block equivalents.
Alternatively, look at the really small, niche French resorts, the small satellite resorts that fill the gaps between the mega resorts, such as Les Saisies, or Flumet (again in the MB region). There are literally hundreds. However, small means limited KMs of skiing, limited things to do in the evenings. But if you’re happy to do some ski-safari whilst you’re here (i.e. drive around from resort to resort) there’s a huge amount on offer between them and often at very good daily rates compared to the mega resorts. They’ll certainly be closer than 1800km.
As for touching base, happy to help, but I tend to work at the very top end of sales, with a lot of off market stock. But the knowledge and advice is there. I’d rather not put my details on the thread, but will work out a way to contact you.
@@leangrypoulet7523 yes good advice here. i am aware of most you mentioned. the 60's eye sore accom and resorts are a complete turn off to me. they destroy my soul. yes cheap but no way could i buy one. most horrible architecture its depressing. every day a littl bit more of me would die @! Flaine Bauhaus is just a mistake on humanity IMO! but worse is that French 60/70s brown wood tower and funky groovy design of the 60s. Half of Les Arc and La Plagne is like that and many around Grenoble. only barely acceptable one is Avioriaz. look at La Plagne Bellecote. OMG. cheap yes. but disgusting soulless high rise. i couldn't, no way. i made a post further down about my thoughts on French ski resort styles including the 60's blight on humanity.
For me, its a mix of things. pretty style village with reasonable to good linked skiing, some vista , snowsure and infrastructure so as not to get bored on days off. you make good points on the satellite resorts. im looking at those a lot.
i know Les Saises and Flumet, part of the Espace Diamond. been looking at them. some very pretty. skiing not bad, a little low. Le Saises itself looks very flat, low & beginner oriented. have to trek out to the rest of the area every day.
i'll go to Austria if have to. prefer French food, but they have so many options of trad style villages. good bang for buck too i suspect b/c of volume avialable. and you can buy 2 Austrian ski passes that let you ski over 90 resorts each, i think ! pretty attractive. The SKi Armade itself has 25 villages all linked. pretty impressive. Austrian villages generally lower down but hold the snow better as its a fully alpine country. Switz is gorgeous but prices there so much more.
In France there are quite a lot of resorts lower down in the south of Val Thorens worth investigating. Serre Chevalier and lower down. then we've got Italy. Aosta valley, Madonna De C and Val Gardena/Alta Badia so much to choose from. we're spoilt.
little old Australia has 5 resorts. and all are smaller than EU's smallest resorts. about 2-3 square kms in area! oh well we have other good things like the best beaches in the world and 4 billions miles of them !!
The ski resorts have been taken over by the snowboarders. Hard to ski with all that traffic.
Interesting and helpful, but some "interesting" pronunciation of resort names 🙂
Very nice video and just what I was looking for.
But the pronunciation of the resort names was awful and detracted terribly from the video.
Good work and please consider the feedback as a way to make it even better!
Authentic atmosphere? That’s exactly what’s missing at many of the French resorts.
You have it in smaller stations ; these top 10 are the biggest.
Not really?
Unlike resorts in america, european resorts consists of hundreds years old buildings that forms beautiful villages like val d'isère, charmonix, courchevel and meribel as an example, so you are very wrong
@@atf9406 I agree (just not for Val d’Iser, was disapointed for it city), Vail as Aspen as eg are the same, rapidly constructed ; but indeed this top 10 (Chamonix and Meribel excluded) is far from ostrian or swiss stations, even big, with stronger authentic identity. But french alps is plenty of small stations with strong authenticy, especially in north under Leman lake, around the « vallée de la maurienne », and in south around Briançon.
@@atf9406 Courchevel and Meribel ski resorts have no bearing on the villages they take their name from and have mostly been built in the past 40 years. Courchevel in many regards is pig ugly. Meribel is better, having kept on top of its planning regs. As for many of the others in this top ten, they’re all the high altitude resorts, (concrete carbuncles), built during the explosion of the sport in the 60s/70s/80s. Horrible places, like skiing in a council estate (projects).
good vid, but i couldn't get over the horrendous mispronunciations 🤣
Need some work on your resort name pronounciations. Have you ever been to any of these resorts?
I'd pull this video, learn to pronounce the town and area names properly and use more high resolution imagery. And maybe not make claims about the authentic atmosphere unique to French resorts until you've travelled around other countries a bit. Maybe then re-post it. Maybe.
Indeed a video of someone who has no clue of what he is talking abputzen.
@@philipphabegger703 suspect it might have been chat AI generated text. it has that feel about it. and the AI tries hard but is not always right.
Les Arcs is lacking but good selection nevertheless
The video transitions were nauseating. I was surprised at how much intermediate and beginner terrain there is.
Mont blank? lol
I agree with your list but your French pronunciation could use some work.
Yeah, you are right. Didn’t nail all the names
That's alright, it can be hard to do so
ha ha je suis francais cooooucheeeveeel il n y a que qu avoriaz qui est bien prononce
Nice video but my God man…learn how to pronounce the place names 😊
You might need to look at how to pronounce french words 😅
As much as I love France I'd be very happy not to use any of their ski resorts ever again
Why would you be?
Sorry to be picky but agree with most comments. Fabulous ski resorts but RUBBISH pronunciation.
Bro it’s so hard to take this guy seriously when he’s butchering every French word
For crying out loud, find a commentator who can pronounce Frnch correctly. I can't stand any more. Am switching off after 2mins. 40 seconds.